On Human Rights Day, make your voice heard on impunity

In 1950, the United Nations General Assembly declared
December 10 Human Rights Day in commemoration of the adoption and proclamation two
years earlier of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Every year, on this day, the U.N. chooses one right
to highlight and advocate. This year, Human Rights Day is focused on the right
of all people to make their voices heard. This is not possible when journalists
worldwide are being murdered.

When a journalist is murdered, he is denied his most fundamental
right to life. He is also denied his right to freedom of expression. When a
journalist is murdered, his stories are censored, and we are all denied our
collective right to information. Without this right, we become uninformed and powerless--we
cannot make our voices heard.

The U.N. cites the ability of "women, youth, minorities,
persons with disabilities, indigenous people, the poor and marginalized" to be
heard. These are effectively the people most regularly affected by journalist
murders. In nine of 10 cases, according to research by the Committee to Protect Journalists, those
murdered are local journalists working on local stories that often touch on the
concerns of minorities, indigenous peoples, women, and the poor.

But around the world journalists are also being targeted for
their reports on human rights. Coverage of this topic is one of the top five
reasons why journalists are routinely killed. In 2012, one third of journalists
murdered covered human rights. Among them was 27-year-old Syrian cameraman and
reporter Abdel Karim
al-Oqda, who was killed on September 19 when security forces launched an
assault on his home in the central city of Hama, burning his house and killing
three of his friends. Al-Oqda reported for the Damascus-based citizen news
organization Shaam News Network. He covered
fighting between regime forces and the rebel Free Syrian Army, focusing on civilian
deaths. His footage appeared on international outlets including Al-Jazeera, the
BBC, and CNN. Without his work, some of the atrocities happening now in Syria
would have gone unreported.

Last week, CPJ launched a new digital campaign Speak Justice: Voices Against Impunity, to demand
justice for journalists like al-Oqda, and to empower reporting on issues of vital importance, such as human rights. You
can visit the Speak Justice website and explore our interactive maps to see where journalists have been targeted
for their reports on human rights. You can also choose today, Human Rights Day,
to lend your voice to those who have been silenced by becoming a Speak Justice advocate.

María Salazar-Ferro is CPJ’s Impunity Campaign and Journalist Assistance Program coordinator. A native of Bogotá, she studied at Universidad de los Andes, in Bogotá, and graduated from the University of Virginia. She reports on exiled and missing journalists, and has represented CPJ on missions to Mexico and the Philippines, among others.